Bonum Certa Men Certa

Why You Should Adopt Debian 10, Not Vista 10 (Windows Vista With Microsoft's Latest Surveillance Add-ons)

My desk photographed an hour ago

My desk



Summary: A little personal story and recommendation of Debian "Buster" (10) or Devuan (whose developers persist)

THIS year started slowly due to two machine failures. First it was my wife's and then (weeks later) it was mine. The hard-drive wasn't aging well (it's 11 years old) and risk of severe data loss had grown greater by the week. I had to reboot several times because the root filesystem kept locking up (to avert critical failure) and at that point the battery wasn't working, the screen had not worked for more than a year (I've an used external one on this laptop) and even the keyboard was defunct (so I've used an external one). The reboots are a pretty big deal because I ran some important things on this laptop (IRC logging for instance), on a 24/7 basis, and reboots were like an annual thing. Uptime was really good until the disk kept failing (becoming read-only until a file system check).



"Uptime was really good until the disk kept failing (becoming read-only until a file system check)."Due to hardware issues earlier this year we bought two used (refurbished/"preowned") laptops and put Debian 10 on them. It was pretty spectacular that everything worked well out of the box and was simple to set up. Configuring a printer took less time than it took to feed it paper (my wife did all that on her own yesterday).

The hardest thing about Debian wasn't setting it up as a system (post-installation). The installer still uses a lot of jargon (remember the old joke about the meaning of the word "Ubuntu") and if one needs firmware (binary blobs) to get Wi-Fi going, then things can get tricky. In the name of freedom and FSF endorsement, of course...

"Due to hardware issues earlier this year we bought two used (refurbished/"preowned") laptops and put Debian 10 on them. It was pretty spectacular that everything worked well out of the box and was simple to set up."After she had set up her laptop with Debian 10 (and included were all the desktop environments available) my wife installed it on mine as well. She didn't struggle, she was technical enough and all I needed to provide was a password.

Debian GNU/Linux does not spend billions of dollars on marketing; it does not bribe sites like ZDNet to totally control them -- even their "Linux" section.

Up until the start of this year I did OK under GNU/Linux with never a computer that had more than 2 GB of RAM. I did all my work just fine with such minimal specs.

In my experience, setting up GNU/Linux (major distributions and their derivatives) in 2020 is very easy. The last time I actually installed Windows I think I was using floppy disks, but people say it's still a difficult experience because one must pursue drivers and deal with various compatibility issues, sometimes licensing issues as well.

"In my experience, setting up GNU/Linux (major distributions and their derivatives) in 2020 is very easy."Debian now uses systemd, which some prominent Debian figures oppose and I cannot blame them. Devuan is still available for those looking to dodge systemd.

We're still planning to migrate the site to another operating system, maybe Devuan. A migration isn't as simple as initially hoped for various technical reasons and lack of spare hardware (one physical server and hypervisor). But we're still working on that whenever time permits.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Microsoft Uses LLM Slop to Defraud (or Rob) Shareholders
Microsoft is basically defrauding its shareholders by LLM slop
The "Davos Effect": Tarnishing the Reputation of Places Not by Overtourism But by Oligarch Infestation
The last Venice needs is an affiliation with Venetian oligarchs
 
Gemini Links 01/07/2025: Distraction-Free Writing and Hytale Mismanagement
Links for the day
Links 01/07/2025: "Beauty of Blogging" and "Etiquette of Collapse"
Links for the day
The Web is a Dead End
We need to adopt alternatives
When Words Lose Their Intended Meaning
examples of words that, at least in the technical spheres, don't mean what they sound like
People Who Disagree With You on Technical Matters May or May Not Agree With You on Political Things (But Usually They Do)
What bothers me a great deal is seeing left-leaning people accusing other left-leaning people of being "nazis"
"Too Much Choice" and "Too Many Programming Languages"
What IBM and its apologists aim for was attempted in the 1930s and it failed
Microsoft Lost 400,000,000 Windows Users, According to Microsoft
more people adopt smaller computers and many people replace Windows with GNU/Linux, as they don't really need a new computer
Half a Year Gone, What's to Come Next
In the second half of 2025 we expect to be done with the Microsoft SLAPPs
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, June 30, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, June 30, 2025
People at the Very Top of Microsoft Know How Bad Things Really Are
There's no product that can replace the former profitability of Windows licensing and stuff that went on top of Windows
Gemini Links 01/07/2025: Mid Year and a Tour of Old Languages
Links for the day
EPO Presentation Bemoans Misuse of Slop in Decision-Making on Patents and in Classification (Which is Likely Illegal Too)
We habitually mention failed use cases of LLMs on the Web
Mass Layoffs at Microsoft Confirmed, "XBox Hardware Is Dead"
It's possible that over 20% of the staff will be laid off
Links 30/06/2025: Kyrgyzstan vs Media Freedom, Dalai Lama Succession
Links for the day
Gemini Links 30/06/2025: Backend Programs in Gemini and Dynamic Content Without The Scripting
Links for the day
Links 30/06/2025: Zuckerberg’s Tax-Evading Scheme Harms Kids, US Copyright Office Lacks Leadership
Links for the day
Microsoft Isn't Laying Off Tens of Thousands to 'Invest' in Slop ('Hey Hi'), It's Laying Off Tens of Thousands Because It's Running Out of Money (and Willing Lenders)
the layoffs are a sign of the business failing, not "hey hi" (whatever that is) replacing staff
Intel Lays Off 20% of Its Workforce, Microsoft is Doing the Same This Year
Like a yoyo, whatever goes up will come back down
Microsoft XBox Layoffs: Almost 2,000 Layoffs Became "Over 2,000"? (Over 20% of the Staff)
over 20% of staff will be let go, not counting staff that leaves voluntarily
GNU/Linux Rises to New Highs in Angola, Africa in General is Abandoning Windows
Western media barely covers Microsoft layoffs in Africa, but in recent years Microsoft culled the workforce and even shut down entire operations
Summer Plans in Techrights and Elsewhere
massive layoffs at Microsoft
Destination Geminispace (in the Age of LLM Slop and Slop Images That Infest the Web and Social Control Media)
Geminispace isn't vast, but at least it is - on average - a lot "cleaner"
GNU/Linux Growing in Sierra Leone This Year
Based on what statCounter is seeing, this year there are more and more people there who adopt GNU/Linux
Serial Sloppers Gonna Slop
More sites out there ought to call out the cheaters
Quartz (qz.com) is Spam and a Slopfarm
It used to be OK. Then they fired the staff.
Links 30/06/2025: US Economic Woes, Extreme Heat
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, June 29, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, June 29, 2025
Gemini Links 30/06/2025: "The AI Hype" and New AuraGem Ask
Links for the day
Our Desktops Are Not Your Experiments, X is Not an Experiment
Breaking what already worked
Microsoft's Big Lies Regarding This Week's Mass Layoffs Have Already Begun (and They're Already Being Spread by Slopfarms)
Microsoft is the "market leader" in slop
Explaining the Full Story of SLAPPs From Microsoft Staff
For every action there is a reaction, for every attack there will be proportionate consequences
The Openwashing Shills Initiative (OSI) - Part III: IRS and Status of OSI
"They lied to the US IRS and there’s a paper trail"
IBM Red Hat's Dogmatic Fanaticism Under a Thin Veil of "Modernism"
IBM now has the audacity to paint people who don't agree as "nazis"
Microsoft's Share in Guatemala Fell From 97% to 14%
Eventually Microsoft will get stuck in a loop of layoffs, layoffs, and more layoffs
They Made Technology Scary and Taught Us That It's Innocent, Friendly, Even "Social"
Rejection of all this "apps" and "gadgets" and "Smart" (whatever that means!) status quo isn't a rejection of society
The Media is Under Attacks Partly Because There's Little Other (Remaining) Press to Speak in Its Defence
The biggest danger here is that when there's very little press or no "opposition media" left it becomes even easier to crush critics because there aren't many people left to speak about the matter
If Your Web Site is Run by Bots, Eventually Nobody Will 'Read' It Except Bots (People Don't Want to Read Slop)
Eventually people learn from mistakes
Links 29/06/2025: Microsoft Releases False/Fake Benchmarks, "Google Wants You to Watch Ads or Take Surveys to Read Articles"
Links for the day
Links 29/06/2025: Data Breaches and Online Censorship
Links for the day
Gemini Links 29/06/2025: "The Price Of Eggs" and Gemini 3D Tic Tac Toe
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, June 28, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, June 28, 2025